


Star Gazers

by UnknownDeath63



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M, MTMTE, Maccadams, OC StormScorch, OC Swiftica, OC Teleblitz, OC Windburn, Papa Megatron, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, kinda OOC, post 47 / pre Lost Light
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-08 08:45:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8838058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownDeath63/pseuds/UnknownDeath63
Summary: A slice of life story following Tailgate and Cyclonus. I have no distinct time, before issue 47, when the story takes place. It mostly follows them when they aren't shown in MTMTE or between issues.Rated M for graphic sexual content and possible violence in later chapters. WARNING: Speculation of rape.





	1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1:_

_Alone_

 

One late night cycle on the Lost Light, Tailgate sat on the window sill of his shared habitation suite, one leg hanging over the edge and the other resting under him, his left servo was pressed against the window while the other rested on his left knee. The only light source in the room came from his visor and, faintly, his bio-lights. He enjoyed watching the stars, especially when everyone else was resting. The quiet was almost soothing. Almost. It was a lonely silence. He wished his room mate, Cyclonus, would join him. They weren't really in the best or the most comfortable friendship. Cyclonus was the only mech on the ship that Tailgate had recognized in the beginning. He remembered how little he knew of everyone else when the ship first took off. The 'quest' that Rodimus set them out on gave Tailgate more then enough time to learn about everyone, or at least nearly everyone. He remembered how things seemed to jump to light speed after the rather explosive take-off. Everything happened so fast, it almost seemed like a blur of lost history to the minibot now that he thought about it. A loud and almost sudden growl caught the minibot's attention. Tailgate glanced over at the other mech in the room, his visor dimming as not to disturb him. It was snoring, or more accurately, it was Cyclonus' snoring. One thing Tailgate learned really quickly was that Cyclonus snored loudly when he was really deep in his recharge. It was the usual signal he got every night. The signal that told him that it was safe to take is face mask off. He reached his right servo up and gripped the bottom of the mask, pulling it down carefully. The mask slid nicely out of it's slotted place. As the covering moved out of the way, it slowly revealed the lower half of Tailgate's face. A cute button nose, smooth and soft lips, a gently curved chin, all of this on a blue-white backdrop. Once the mask was removed fully, his sky blue visor turned more translucent revealing the outline of Tailgate's optics behind it. He returned his gaze outward toward the stars again. He then began to hum an old song Cyclonus had taught him. He couldn't remember the words too clearly so he avoided getting them wrong by humming the tune, the sound warm and gentle. Tailgate was so distracted he didn't notice that Cyclonus' snoring had slowly come to a stop. The larger mech laid on his berth, silently listening to Tailgate's humming. He remain like that until he heard the song coming close to the end, in which he then began to fake snore. This was the nightly routine for both of them. They were both too scared to talk to each other about it but in some way, they liked it like that. It let them keep their secrets to themselves and for these two mechs, and many more, some of their secrets were hazardous to themselves and everyone around them.

Eventually, Tailgate decided to turn in for the night, slipping his mask back on before sliding off the window sill and sneaking back to his berth on the opposite side of the room. He crawled in, snuggled under the covers and rested his helm in his pillow. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling for a moment before drifting off into recharge. After a few minutes of silence, Cyclonus opened his optics and looked over at Tailgate. He watched the minibot for a few moments. He was trying to figure out how he felt about him. He wasn't good with emotions, expressing or feeling them. He eventually managed to tear his optics away from the minibot long enough to sit on the edge of his berth. He returned his gaze back to Tailgate almost instinctively. He felt hypnotized by the mech in front of him. Without realizing it, he reached a servo out to Tailgate, the movement slow. His focus shifted to his servo, specifically at his quivering talons. He moved his servo back and looked down at his palm before clenching his digits into it. He stood and walked with silent steps toward the window. He stared out at the stars and placed his left servo to the glass. He spotted a meteor in the distance, it's tail a sparkling blue as it flew passed. Cyclonus looked over his shoulder at Tailgate. The minibot rolled over onto his left side, his right arm hung off the side of the berth. Cyclonus snuck over silently, knelt down beside Tailgate's berth and carefully put his arm back on to his berth. He took this opportunity to look more closely at his small roommate's face, or at least what he had chose to be his public face. Cyclonus gently caressed Tailgate's cheek with the tops of his talons. He moved them away when the smaller mech groaned and moved his face into his pillow slightly. Cyclonus frowned a little more then usual before standing and returning to his berth to continue his rather short recharge.

 

***

 

The next morning, Cyclonus was the first to start wandering about the ship. He tried to enjoy the peace before everyone else got up, especially Whirl. The last mech he wanted to see was Whirl. Cyclonus stepped out of his hab suite and headed down the hall to the bridge. The view in the morning was worth all the aggravation he had to deal with throughout the rest of the day. The only up sides to being trapped on that ship were the mornings, nights and one mech that he didn't appreciate enough. He looked out of the massive window and watched as the nearby planet developed a crescent of light, the nearest sun peering over the edge of the dark spherical shape in front of it. The warm glow engulfed the ship and filled the room with auburn warmth, the saturation welcoming. At this early hour, Cyclonus felt as though everything was pure and peaceful. He even allowed himself to relax enough to let a smile grace his lips. The smile, though, did not stay for long. He knew what was coming next. After the peace usually came some sort of irritation. More often then not it was Whirl who ruined the peace. Lucky for Cyclonus, that morning's irritation was actually a welcome one. He heard a set of foot falls that were far too quiet and too close to be Whirl's. He kept his back to the other bot in the room. He knew who it was, a small smile graced his lips again before he erased it himself, looking over his shoulder at the other. It was exactly who he thought it was. His little white and blue roommate, Tailgate. It was rare to see the minibot up so early. For Cyclonus, it was a secret pleasure to see Tailgate first thing in the morning. He watched the small mech as he walked right up beside him. He watched as Tailgate placed his little servos on the window sill and looked out at the sun rising behind the nearby planet. Cyclonus watched the sun with Tailgate, the room filling with peaceful silence once again.

“It's so beautiful.” Tailgate spoke up, referring to the scene in front of them.

Cyclonus looked down at Tailgate, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. “Yeah. Very beautiful.” He said, keeping his gaze on the small mech. 

Tailgate looked up at Cyclonus, the light at the bottom of his visor curving slightly to show that he was smiling. The violet mech smiled a bit more before looking back out the window. Silence fell into the room again. Cyclonus simply watched the rising sun while Tailgate shifted his gaze down at his roommate's left servo. It hung loosely, relaxed in this calm environment. The minibot stared at it, thoughts of holding the large servo racing in his mind. Should he dare try to grasp the taloned servo of the one he feels closest to? His instincts made the decision for him, his small right servo reaching out slowly, inching closer and closer to the other's own larger servo. He was mere millimetres away when Cyclonus looked down at him again, frightening Tailgate enough to make him completely withdraw his servo in fear. The small mech laughed nervously before looking back out the window. He did not want to fear Cyclonus or even make it seem like he feared him, but he was too shy to tell the horned mech about his feelings for him. Cyclonus was a little confused at Tailgate's reaction. He knew what Tailgate was trying to do and he wouldn't have stopped him. Though he would have told the minibot not to tell anyone about it, his pride always got in the way when it came to things like that. He was too proud to let anyone know about the feelings that he hid so well. Even with his pride, he thought that Tailgate could do better then him. There were many, many others he could choose. Why him?

They stood there till the nearby sun had cleared the horizon of the planet, the colour of the room returning to it's usual golden beige. Tailgate and Cyclonus looked at each other, their optics locking together. A light shade of energon blue rose to Tailgate's cheeks as they simply stared into each other's optics. Cyclonus' lips parted slightly. He wanted to speak but no words filled his mind. It was Tailgate who spoke first.

“Cy-Cyclonus...” He started, earning the full attention of the violet mech. There was a short silence before he continued. “...Um... I... I guess.... I guess I'll see you at Swerve's.” He stuttered nervously.

Cyclonus felt a sinking in his spark as though his conjunx had died in his arms. He did his best to hide how he felt, clearing his throat before speaking. “Ah...yeah. I'll...I'll see you there.” He said and looked back out the window. 

Tailgate fidgeted with his digits as he walked toward the bridge entrance. He stopped suddenly to look back at Cyclonus. He thought this was a spark of bravery. “Cyclonus.” He said confidently. When Cyclonus looked back at him, the wind was knocked out of his sails and he returned to being a shy little minibot. “Um.....uh..... Sh-shall I order your usual from Swerve's?” His question received a silent nod in confirmation. He then continued out of the bridge entrance. Once the door closed behind him, Tailgate pressed his back against the door and let out a heavy sigh. “Tailgate, you coward.” He muttered under his breath.

 

***

 

Hours later, in Swerve's bar, Tailgate sat in the usual booth that he and Cyclonus always sat since they became comfortable with each other. They practically had their names engraved in the booth. Cyclonus hadn't showed up yet and it was making Tailgate nervous. He hoped Cyclonus would show up soon, the waiting was killing him. He opened the hatch in his face mask and slipped his straw through so he could sip at his engex. The others in the bar paid little attention to Tailgate, too busy chatting with their inner circles to notice the lone minibot. Soon, the room went quiet as the door to the bar opened, revealing the very mech that Tailgate was waiting for. Cyclonus looked around at everyone. It was hardly mid cycle and they were already getting smashed of high grade engex. Eventually, the other bots managed to adjust to Cyclonus' presence enough to return to what they were doing. The violet mech walked around the edge of the bar and sat across from Tailgate in their booth. Tailgate had relaxed significantly when Cyclonus first entered Swerve's. Now that he was sitting with him, he was overjoyed. Cyclonus saw how happy Tailgate was in his company, it almost made a smile grace his lips. Almost. Were they not in a public setting, he would have let that smile show. But, due to the circumstances, he simply watched Tailgate. The little minibot had started to ramble about something. Most likely a dream he had the previous night or about something that Swerve had told him. Cyclonus wasn't really listening at first but quickly became concerned when Getaway was mentioned. The magenta mech did not like hearing Tailgate talk about or even mention Getaway. It stirred an instinctual anger in him. A type of anger that could not be hidden, as was evident when he snarled quietly, his nasal ridge wrinkling as his upper lip bared his fang-like denta at every mention of the other mech in Tailgate's life. He would have preferred Tailgate to talk about anything other then Getaway. Anything at all. His time being stuck underground was more preferable then Getaway.

Tailgate eventually got the hint to stop when one snarl was heard over the chattering of the others in the room. Now that he was silenced from his previous topic, he had nothing left to talk about. The two of them sat in silence, occasionally listening in on other conversations. Tailgate slipped his straw threw the circular opening in his mask and sipped his engex.

“Why do you wear that?” A familiar Tetrahexian voice spoke up. Tailgate looked up sharply at Cyclonus, confused at first.

“What are you talking about? I'm not wearing anything, other then my plating, of course.”

“That faceplate. You always wear it when your walking around but in the middle of the night, you take it off.” Cyclonus said. He wasn't sure where this sudden thread of courage came from but he was going to hold on to it. 

“Cyclonus, I don't know what you mean. I'm...” Tailgate paused and looked around, some bots were watching them. “I'm not wearing a faceplate.” He insisted. He never wanted anyone to know about his face under the mask. It was a secret that he would only show to someone he felt closest to. To someone he trusted with all his spark.

“Yes, you do know what I mean and yes you are wearing a faceplate.” Cyclonus insisted back at the minibot. His vision had tunnelled, his whole focus was on Tailgate. He was not aware that others in the bar were watching them.

“No! I'm NOT!” Tailgate shouted at Cyclonus before jumping out of the booth and running out of the bar.

Cyclonus watched with slight surprise as Tailgate left, only then noticing that everyone had been watching them. He felt like a jerk then. He felt as though everyone saw him as a jerk for upsetting Tailgate to the point of making him shout at him. He let out a sigh before standing and leaving Swerve's.

 

***

 

The day eventually came to an end, as it always did. Cyclonus and Tailgate had actively avoided each other for the whole day, but now they had to confront each other. Cyclonus stood in their hab suite and stared out the window. Tailgate stood out side the door, staring at the golden paint as though it was going to maul him to death. He wasn't sure what was going to happen when he opened it. The most likely outcome would be if Cyclonus ignored him. The worst would be if Cyclonus ended up killing him. He did not know what the best possible outcome would be. He could only see the negatives happening. Tailgate took a deep breath before opening the door, looking in at Cyclonus' back. He cautiously entered, closing the door behind him. He froze when he saw the magenta mech turn his helm too look back at Tailgate, his crimson optic burning brightly in the rather dark room, contrasting with Tailgate's own cyan visor. The silence was thick, only the faintest of clicking and whirring from their mechanics filling the room. It seemed so sudden to Tailgate when Cyclonus turned around fully to face him. Tailgate pressed his back hard against the door when the horned mech started to approach him, fear filling his every circuit. When Cyclonus stopped right in front of him, Tailgate closed his optics tightly, bracing himself for pain and suffering. He heard movement, his spark started to race harder and harder. He then flinched when he felt a pair of arms wrapping around him, pulling him against a warm surface. He opened his optics to see that Cyclonus was hugging him. The movement he heard was Cyclonus getting down on his knees. This genuinely confused Tailgate.

“I'm sorry for making a scene at Swerve's. I had not intended to seem like such a jerk. I was just curious.”

Tailgate understood, then. He returned the hug before replying. “It's alright. I didn't expect you to know about my faceplate. I try so hard to hide the fact that it is not my true face. I wear it because I want only one bot to see it. The bot that I trust the most. The bot I would give my spark for. The bot who'd give their spark to me in return.”

“Sounds as though you are referring to a sparkmate or a Conjunx.” Cyclonus paused, processing this all. “Is there anyone in particular you had in mind?”

Tailgate pulled away from the hug and looked Cyclonus in the optics. “Two. I'm not sure who to pick though. I do not think I am ready to make that commitment yet.”

Cyclonus nodded. He wasn't about to pressure Tailgate into choosing right then and right there. He released Tailgate and stood up, walking to his berth and laying down on it. Tailgate followed his lead and laid in his own berth. Cyclonus laid flat on his back, his optics closed and his servos folded on his stomach. Tailgate laid on his side and watched Cyclonus for a few moments before rolling onto his opposite side to try to sleep. That night was the first night that broke their usual routine.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2:_

_Blossoms_

 

Days later, the Lost Light landed on a neutral planet. The ship had been running low on fuel and supplies. Not to mention some bots had been getting a bit irritated, being stuck on the ship for a long while. The scout team informed the rest of the crew that the planet was mech friendly, allowing the crew to stretch their legs. The crew had calmed down from the argument between Tailgate and Cyclonus, Tailgate having assured them that it was only because they had been on the ship for too long and how he and Cyclonus had reconciled. Now that they were out of the ship, they made sure to keep close to each other so they didn't get lost. They were accompanied by Rung whom wanted to see if the local shops sold any model ships that he did not already have in his collection. They entered a hobby shop and looked around, the store clerk keeping a close eye on Cyclonus. The magenta mech found his interest wandering. He saw few things that appealed to him. A book here, a dagger there, but nothing that really stood out to him. Tailgate, on the other hand, was completely enthralled with one item in particular. It was a clear dome filled with water, in the centre was a positively gorgeous blossom. The blossom's petals were a beautiful violet with cyan edges. Tailgate looked up hopefully at Cyclonus, hoping he would allow him to get it. Cyclonus glanced down at Tailgate before looking at the bauble the minibot was so enchanted by. He let out a sigh before nodding to Tailgate, much to the minibot's excitement. The white mech took the dome and led Cyclonus to the checkout counter, placing it down so it could be purchased and safely wrapped. Just as Tailgate reached for his own credits, Cyclonus placed a platinum card down on the counter. The clerk bore a surprised expression on his face when the card was placed down. They took the card, swiped it through a slotted mechanism that was connected to the digital register, then they gave it back to Cyclonus along with a box containing the dome bauble. Cyclonus took them both, giving Tailgate the box and putting the card away in a subspace on his frame. Tailgate took the box with amazement. He wasn't expecting Cyclonus to pay for the blossom bauble, but he was more then happy that he did. It meant so much more now. The pair left the store and waited outside for Rung. The orange mech soon left the store, model kit in hand. The three of them departed for the ship, so they could put away their souvenirs before joining everyone else at the local bar.

Later, at the local bar, Tailgate and Cyclonus sat in a booth together. They would have been sitting with everyone else but there wasn't space for them. Cyclonus watched the crew closely. If they started to move out, they were to as well. Tailgate couldn't keep his optics off Cyclonus, no matter how hard he tried to. His mind was focused on Cyclonus.

“Thank you. For buying that dome for me.” Tailgate spoke up. “You didn't have to but you did.” One could practically hear the smile on Tailgate's lips as he spoke his praise to Cyclonus.

The magenta mech looked at Tailgate, his optics softening and a slight smile on his lips. “You're welcome. I wanted to make up for what happened a few days ago.” He said softly. “An apology didn't feel like it was enough, y'know.”

“The apology was nice but this... This was amazing.” Tailgate spoke more humbly. A soft tint of energon blue crept onto his cheeks.

Cyclonus noticed the blush on Tailgate's face and his own responded in kind, it was very faint, but still present. Soon, the crew stood and started to file out of the bar. Cyclonus took notice and got up, Tailgate following his lead. As they left, Tailgate glanced at Cyclonus' servo. Would today be the day he had the courage to hold Cyclonus' servo? He reached up cautiously, unsure of how the larger mech would react. The tips of his digits touched Cyclonus', receiving a startled flinch from the larger servo. Tailgate moved his servo away sharply. Today was not the day. The courage wasn't there. They proceeded to the ship in silence

Once aboard the ship, the crew departed to their respective hab suites. It was late and they were all tired. Cyclonus and Tailgate entered their room and retired to their berths. Tailgate had placed the bauble on the desk next to the monitor of their shared computer. The desk lamp was lined up so that when it was turned on, the bauble would be in the light. Tailgate sat in his berth and stared in the general direction of the desk. He couldn't wait to admire the blossom in the morning.

 

***

 

Early the next morning, Tailgate woke up before Cyclonus. He hopped out of his berth and glanced out the window. The movement of the stars told him that the ship was in motion. He sat in the desk chair and turned on the light. The light shone onto the dome, illuminating the blossom inside beautifully. Tailgate had the biggest smile on his face, of course it was hidden under his faceplate but it was still there. As he admired the blossom, he could feel his spark racing, his mind instantly drifting into a fantasy. The fantasy was innocent enough. It was of Tailgate sitting in a field of blossoms akin to the one in the dome. They bore no fragrance, due in part to Tailgate not knowing what the blossom smelled like. As Tailgate looked around the fantasy land, he spotted Cyclonus in the distance. He called to him, watching as the magenta mech turned in response, a charming smile on his lips. Cyclonus called him over. The minibot stood from where he sat and happily ran to Cyclonus through the field of blossoms, giggling and laughing all the while. Once he was close enough, Tailgate leapt into Cyclonus' arms and hugged him tightly. The pair fell back into the cushiony blossoms, laughing happily. The larger mech then slid Tailgate's faceplate off, lifted his face and looked him deep in the optics. Time seemed to slow as Cyclonus pulled Tailgate's face closer and closer to his own. Just as their lips were about to touch, a harsh alarm tore Tailgate from his fantasy. Tailgate looked around the room in panic, Cyclonus sharply jumped from his berth and instinctively got between Tailgate and the door. The minibot hid behind Cyclonus and stared in fear at the door. They stood like that for a moment before the alarm stopped and the intercom came on.

“False Alarm everyone. Someone forgot that Megatron was on board.” Rodimus said, trying his hardest not to name names.

Cyclonus relaxed and looked back at Tailgate. “You alright, Tailgate?”

The minibot nodded and sat back in the desk chair. He looked back at the dome before leaning back in the chair. The fantasy had raised his internal temperature and the alarm had made his spark start racing hard. He felt as though someone had walked in on him self servicing. Cyclonus noticed something off about Tailgate. He sat on his berth and looked at Tailgate.

“Are you sure?” He asked, worried about the minibot.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” He assured Cyclonus. “The alarm just startled me. You wanna go to Swerve's with me?” He wanted to get off of the subject before he could let out any details. He turned off the desk lamp and walked to the door.

“Sure.” Cyclonus responded and followed Tailgate out.

Once they started walking down the hall, Tailgate stretched his arms up over his helm. He needed a good stretch after what his mind had created during that fantasy. He felt close to Cyclonus but he hadn't thought he felt that close to him. Though, now that he thought about it, he did wonder about the quality of Cyclonus' kiss. For that matter, he wondered about the quality of his own kiss. He shook the thought from his head and simply walked to Swerve's with Cyclonus.

“You going to movie night tonight?” Cyclonus asked quietly.

“Probably. It would depend on the movie they are going to play. Last movie night we watched a documentary about Earth lions. Safe to say, it wasn't for everyone.” Tailgate said, remembering every time the lions tore the flesh off the dead animals.

“I heard it was going to be some sort of romantic comedy tonight. Not really my taste but I thought you'd be interested.”

“The only romantic comedies I know Rewind owning were not very funny. Do you know if he bought a new one yesterday?”

“Not that I've heard of, but I got most of my information from eaves dropping on the conversations at the bar yesterday.” Cyclonus admitted.

“I might go then, but only after I confirm that it's a new movie. Hearing Chromedome and Rewind recite the lines of the lovers has gotten so boring.” Tailgate said with a small giggle.

Cyclonus smirked slightly before walking into Swerve's with Tailgate. The bar was quiet, only a few early risers were in the room. The pair walked to the counter and sat on a pair of stools. This early in the morning, they did not mind being near the centre of the room. Not as many bots trying to muscle their way passed them. Swerve approached them and got them their usual drinks. Tailgate and Swerve started talking about what movie was going to be shown, apparently it was a new film that Rewind got the previous day. It was suppose to be really funny and very romantic. While the minibots talked, Cyclonus started thinking about the bauble he had bought for Tailgate. He had noticed that the white mech was sitting by it when the alarm went off. He really loved that bauble. Cyclonus downed his drink then turned around in his chair.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” He told Tailgate before getting up and leaving. He had an idea and he wasn't going to waste any time before acting on it.

Tailgate and Swerve watched in unified confusion as Cyclonus left. “Wonder what got into him.” Tailgate said before sipping his engex.

 

***

 

Late that night, Tailgate returned to his hab suite. The movie was alright it wasn't as good as it could be. Tailgate entered the room and looked around. He saw that Cyclonus was typing something on the computer. The format looked like a song or a poem. The title looked to be _'Blossom'_. He walked to the desk and looked closer at the monitor. It suddenly became a black screen, Cyclonus had turned off the monitor. He looked at Tailgate sternly.

“It's not done yet.” He stated. “When it's done, I shall read it to you, but until then, you cannot read it.” He was very serious, his tone expressed it very clearly.

Tailgate understood. He was not allowed to use the computer until Cyclonus was done writing whatever he was writing. He didn't often see Cyclonus using the computer. Now Tailgate was glad to know that he was. He hated the thought that he was hogging it from Cyclonus.

“You should get some rest, Cyclonus. It's very late.” Tailgate said and grabbed Cyclonus by the arm, pulling him toward his berth.

Cyclonus smirked slightly before standing and letting Tailgate drag him to bed. “Alright, alright. I'll get some rest.”

Tailgate giggled softly and sat Cyclonus on his berth before turning off the light and going to his own berth. “Good night, Cyclonus.”

“Good night, Tailgate.” Cyclonus responded, laying back in his berth and closing his optics.

 

***

 

The next morning, Tailgate woke to find that Cyclonus was back on the computer, typing away at whatever he was working on. It seemed very important to him. The minibot got out of his berth and stretched his arms up over his helm. While he did this, he slowly lost his balance, his arms flailing around in an attempt to regain that balance. He suddenly found himself being caught before he could hit the floor. He looked up at Cyclonus and blushed softly.

“Thank you, Cyclonus. I'm sorry if i disturbed you. Guess I stretched too far.” He said with an embarrassed chuckle.

“No, no. It's alright. I am almost finished anyway.” Cyclonus said and helped Tailgate get up on his pedes. He stood and saved his work before shutting down the computer.

“What are you working on anyway? It looked like a song.”

“It is. I felt a spark of inspiration so I acted on it.” Cyclonus admitted. “You coming to Swerve's? We can talk about last night's movie.”

At Swerve's, the pair sat in their booth with their engex. Tailgate described and explained the whole movie to Cyclonus, whom was less then interested in the film as much as he was entertained by Tailgate's description of it. He chuckled when Tailgate made fun of the bad jokes in the film and he rolled his optics at the cheesiness of the romance scenes. The film sounded corny and boring. He was glad he wasn't in attendance last night. He would have been so bored. When Tailgate finished his explanation he sipped his energon and sighed. He stretched his arms out and rested his chin on the table, he was still exhausted from staying up so late. Cyclonus looked at Tailgate's left servo before placing his right servo on top of it. Tailgate flinched then looked at their servos. The minibot lifted his up and watched as Cyclonus turned his palm up, offering it to Tailgate. The minibot softly placed his servo in the larger one, watching as the larger digits wrapped around the small servo carefully. It was a nice feeling to finally be holding Cyclonus' servo. He looked up at Cyclonus, his visor showed that he was smiling. Cyclonus smiled softly in return. His thumb softly caressing the back of Tailgate's servo. A peaceful silence fell upon them. The silence felt like it held a deeper emotion. It felt like a loving silence. Unfortunately, as things usually are on the Lost Light, silences like that were bound to be broken by a third party. That day's third party was one of the co-captains, Rodimus.

“So, you two going out yet?” He asked, bluntly.

“What?” Tailgate asked, reflexively. He was caught off guard by the question, so caught off guard that he ended up removing his servo from Cyclonus', much to magenta mech's displeasure.

Rodimus noticed the shift in atmosphere. He realized that he ruined a moment. “Guess that means you two aren't quite there yet.”

“Rodimus!” Tailgate huffed.

Cyclonus glared at the young Prime. Said Prime got the hint clear as day, choosing to start on another topic. “So, are you two going to be in the bridge later tonight?”

Tailgate calmed down and tilted his helm in confusion. “Why? What's going to be happening tonight? One of your speeches?”

“No. It's not going to be as amazing as one of my brilliant speeches. Perceptor spotted a comet in the radar and he said that we should be within range enough by tonight to watch it pass by us. Figured you two might be interested.”

Tailgate jump up and stood in his seat, gasping in excitement. He'd never seen a comet, or at least seen one that close. “I'll be there for sure!”

Cyclonus saw how excited Tailgate was. He though about going but then remembered that he was almost done writing his song. Even though he wanted to go see it with Tailgate, he also wanted to finish his song. “I'll pass this time. I've got something that I want to finish tonight.”

“Hopefully it's not Whirl. Wouldn't want your boyfriend to be worried about you.” Rodimus teased, promptly regretting it when Cyclonus glared at him again. The Prime looked to Tailgate and smiled. “I'll see you tonight, Tailgate.” He then left to join the others in the bar.

Tailgate nodded to Rodimus before looking at Cyclonus. “That song must mean a lot to you.” His tone sounded disheartened. He was really hoping Cyclonus would join him to watch the comet.

“It does mean a lot, but if I wasn't so close to finishing it, I would join you.” Cyclonus explained.

Tailgate nodded in understanding but it still brought his mood down. He had wanted Cyclonus to watch the stars with him for a long while but now that the first opportunity came, Cyclonus was too busy to join him. Cyclonus saw how upset Tailgate was. He opened his servo to Tailgate in hopes that holding servos would help bring his mood up a bit. Tailgate smiled a hidden smile before placing his servo in the larger one. It did help bring his mood up, if only just slightly.

 

***

 

Later that night, Tailgate entered the bridge and saw that it was full of couples. There were only a few bots who were there alone but most were there in pairs. It made Tailgate feel out of place and alone. He took a deep breath and walked up to the window. If he was gonna be seen alone to watch a comet, he was gonna have the best seat he could possibly get for it. He watched the stars. They were twinkling nicely that night. Even more beautiful then other nights. Tailgate did his best to ignore the hugging couples around him. He hadn't known there to be so many bots who were in relationships on the ship. It made him feel left out, like he was missing out on something amazing. Suddenly the bots around him gasped in awe as the comet came in view. It moved steadily, chunks of it trailing behind in its dazzling blue tail that sparkled wonderfully. Tailgate's spark swelled with awestruck happiness. It was the most beautiful thing he ever saw. The comet of ice and rock was more gorgeous then he thought it would be. He then heard something that knocked the wind out of his sails of joy.

“I love you, Rewind.” It was Chromedome. He and Rewind were right behind Tailgate.

“I love you too, Domey.” Rewind replied.

Tailgate felt his spark shatter in his chest. They sounded so happy to say those words to each other. They sounded like those were the most important words they'd ever say to anyone. Before Tailgate realized it, tears began to soak his cheeks. He looked down at his digits on the window sill before closing his optics. He tried not to make too much noise as he cried. He didn't want anyone to hear him. He also didn't want to ruin the beauty of the comet for them. Once the comet passed, everyone started to leave the bridge. It was very late. The only one who didn't start leaving right away was Tailgate. He was calming down from his sobbing. He took a few breaths before he turned around and followed everyone out. He walked in silence all the way to his hab suite. He stood outside the door for a moment before he entered. He expected to find Cyclonus already in bed but to his surprise, he wasn't. The magenta mech was sitting in the desk chair, admiring the blossom bauble in the light of the desk lamp. He seemed to be lost in his imagination. His optics were soft and his gaze seemed as though he were under a trance. Tailgate closed the door to their hab suite before he approached his roommate.

“Cyclonus?” He said softly.

Cyclonus did not respond. He was deep in his fantasy, too deep to hear Tailgate. The minibot reached a servo out and placed it on the magenta mech's arm. The touch got a reaction from Cyclonus in the form of a startled flinch. The horned mech looked at Tailgate curiously.

“Tailgate? Weren't you suppose to go see the comet? What time is it?”

“Cyclonus, the comet already passed by us. How long have you been sitting here staring at that for?”

“I'm not sure. How long were you watching the comet for?”

“You've been sitting here for three hours? You need to get to bed now.” Tailgate grabbed Cyclonus' arm and started to tug at it, trying to get him to move.

“Three hours? Primus, I was out for a while.” Cyclonus stood and followed Tailgate, sitting on his berth. He yawned deeply before he pulled Tailgate into a hug.

Tailgate froze. The hug was unexpected. Cyclonus usually only hugged him as an apology and even then the hugs were rare. The minibot then felt something swell in his spark. The feeling made tears well up in his optics. He wrapped his arms around Cyclonus as best as he could and hugged him tightly. He started to sob again. This time, though, he was glad Cyclonus was there to hold him as he cried. The magenta mech held Tailgate tighter when the minibot started to cry. He wasn't sure why Tailgate was crying but, what ever the cause, he was going to be there to comfort him until he got it all out. He wouldn't normally comfort Tailgate in such a situation but exhaustion made the mind cloudy. It took a while but eventually Tailgate calmed down once more. He moved away from the hug and looked up at Cyclonus.

“Thank you, Cyclonus. I don't know what got into me.” The minibot said, his small servos resting on Cyclonus' biceps.

“You're welcome, Tailgate.” Cyclonus responded, his own servos subconsciously resting on his roommate's waist. He rested his forehead against Tailgate's. Exhaustion was so close to claiming him, all he could do was gaze into the minibot's visor.

Tailgate watched Cyclonus closely. He could feel his spark starting to race in his chest. A soft blush crept across his cheeks. He soon found his own optics wondering, examining the details of the magenta mech's face. Every detail, he could even see the faint remnants of the scars from back when Cyclonus scratched his face after learning about Tailgate's cybercrosis. Soon, his optics locked with Cyclonus'. The swelling feeling in his spark returned but this time, he did not cry. He almost welcomed it. He almost enjoyed it. He wasn't sure if Cyclonus felt it, too. He probably felt more exhausted then anything else. Tailgate remembered that it was very late and that he and Cyclonus needed to get to bed. The minibot moved away from the horned mech. He helped Cyclonus lay down before he turned off the desk lamp and walked to his own berth. He climbed in and snuggled under the covers. When he looked over at Cyclonus, he found the large mech to be watching him. The minibot watched as Cyclonus' optics slowly closed. Tailgate said a quiet 'good night' before he too fell into recharge.

 


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3:_

_Touch_

 

Several weeks later, Cyclonus found himself sitting in Swerve's, waiting on Tailgate. His roommate was later then he usually was. It was starting to concern the magenta mech. Every time the door to the bar opened, he found himself looking over at it in hopes that it would be the minibot he was waiting for. The bar was nearly full when Tailgate finally showed up. He had walked in with Getaway. The sight of them together made the horned mech very angry. Whether it was jealousy or something else didn't matter to him. He just knew that Getaway was not the right mech for Tailgate. Something about him rubbed Cyclonus the wrong way. Tailgate spotted the magenta mech and waved to him. Cyclonus nodded to Tailgate before glaring daggers at Getaway. The blue minibot bed fair well to the mouthless mech before walking over to Cyclonus. Tailgate looked at the seat across from his roommate. He then slid his engex over to Cyclonus' side, choosing to sit beside him. Cyclonus was surprised at first, but he quickly warmed up to it. He looked over at Getaway with a smug smirk. Getaway was less then pleased at the sight. The magenta mech decided to rub it in even more by resting his arm on the top of the seat, over Tailgate. He felt like he won a great prize when he saw Getaway turn his back to the pair in anger. Tailgate was oblivious to the competition between the two mechs. He sipped his drink happily from his straw. Cyclonus sipped his drink casually. He wasn't aware that the servo that hung on the other side of Tailgate had started to caress the wheel well in the minibot's shoulder, making the smaller mech shiver from the touch. Tailgate looked over at the touchy servo and blushed when he realized that it was Cyclonus'. He set his engex down and looked up at Cyclonus. He felt very comfortable sitting beside him, he felt like he was in the safest place in the galaxy. He noticed that he felt safer with Cyclonus then he did with Getaway. Then again, that was probably due in part to Cyclonus having saved his life on multiple occasions. He owed the magenta mech more then he could possibly repay and yet Cyclonus hardly asked for anything in return, a quiet moment here, some time alone there, but nothing that Tailgate saw as worthy repayment. Tailgate glanced down at Cyclonus' lap. He blushed harder as he hesitantly placed a servo on the larger mech's thigh. The touch earned an instant reaction. Cyclonus' cheeks burned with a soft but noticeable blush. He looked down at Tailgate then down further at the servo on his thigh. He looked around quickly at the others in the bar. No one was paying them any attention.

“Tailgate?” He whispered softly.

“Cyclonus... I realized something. You've saved my life so many times but you almost never asked for anything in return...” Tailgate whispered. He wanted to do something to make it up to him.

“I never asked for anything in return because.....I don't need any sort of repayment from you.” Cyclonus admitted.

“I know but I feel bad about taking so much and not giving back.”

“I do not know what you plan to give me in return but if it involves that region of my frame, it can wait till we are somewhere more private.” Cyclonus looked around again.

Tailgate sighed softly, leaning into Cyclonus' side. “Fine. But promise me that I will get a chance to repay you.”

“I promise that you will get to repay me. It's not like I'll be doing anything later today anyway.” Cyclonus stated and draped his arm around Tailgate.

 

***

 

Hours later, the Lost Light landed on a planet that had asked for help. The threat was a pack of turbofoxes that were recently released by rogue Decepticons. Rodimus gathered a small team that included Cyclonus. The magenta mech tried to make up an excuse as to why he couldn't assist but Rodimus wouldn't listen and Cyclonus was forced to help. Tailgate asked if he could join but the young Prime denied his request, stating that the little mech was practically a bite sized snack to a pack of turbofoxes. Before leaving the ship, Cyclonus told Tailgate to wait for him in their hab suite. Even though he was hesitant with the idea of getting something back from Tailgate, he did make a promise and he intended to keep it, no matter how sore he was after the battle.

It took hours upon hours to destroy all of the turbofoxes, but the battle eventually came to a victorious conclusion. Cyclonus had a few scratches but nothing too serious. As the field team started to board the ship, Cyclonus pushed his way to the front. He even brushed passed Rodimus, whom was no doubt going to give a victory speech on the bridge. The magenta mech could care less about the victory. He just wanted to get to his hab suite so Tailgate wasn't worried that he'd forgotten. It might've looked like he was in the biggest rush to those in the field team but he did not care about what they thought he was in a rush for. He fast-walked all the way to his hab suite and walked inside. Before he looked around the room, he closed and locked the door behind him. When he did look around the room he was surprised to see that Tailgate was on his knees on the floor, trying to clean up pieces of glass off as fast as he could. The minibot looked up at Cyclonus with a gasp.

“Cyclonus! I didn't mean to break it! I just wanted to see what the label on the bottom said and it just slipped out of my servos onto the floor!” Tailgate said, hurriedly. He was panicking, it was evident from his flaring visor.

Cyclonus saw that Tailgate had dropped and broken the blossom dome. The flower laid on its basin, solvent dripping from its petals. Cyclonus knelt down and started to help Tailgate clean up the broken glass. He picked up the basin and looked at the label on the bottom of it. He then dropped it quickly. Cyclonus' reaction made Tailgate worried. The small mech reached out to grab the basin but he was stopped by Cyclonus.

“Don't touch that!” Cyclonus said, defensively. He then noticed which servo he had grabbed Tailgate's arm with, promptly letting go with a sharp, “Frag!”

“Why? What did the label say?” Tailgate asked fast and scared. “Is it hazardous to us? Are we gonna die?!” Tailgate was panicking harder then he did before when he initially broke the bauble.

“How could I have not recognized it when I saw it?” Cyclonus said to himself. “We need to get to the medical bay now.”

“But what about your promise?” Tailgate said. He then felt a sharp burning where Cyclonus had grabbed him along with other placed that the liquid from the dome had splashed onto his frame. “OW! What the-? What's happening?”

“That is an acid blossom. The fluid it was encased in came from the blossom itself.” Cyclonus explained, lifting Tailgate up and unlocking the door.

He sprinted down the hall toward the medical bay. He could feel the acid burning into his servo but he could endure the pain, Tailgate obviously could not. The minibot grunted and whimpered as the burning got more severe. Cyclonus ran into the medical bay and looked around for Velocity. Once he spotted her, he ran up to her. Velocity looked at the pair in confusion.

“You've got to help Tailgate. He's being burned by acid blossom fluids.” Cyclonus said. His tone conveyed more concern then anyone had ever heard from him since Tailgate was on his deathbed.

“Acid blossom? First Tailgate will need to wash off the acid. I can't touch him while he's covered in it, otherwise I'll be burning with him.” Velocity said. “For that matter, you should wash up too, Cyclonus. The acid is sure to be on you after carrying Tailgate. You must have a high tolerance for pain if you can manage to keep a straight face while being burned.”

“I can handle the pain. It's Tailgate that I'm concerned about.”

Velocity understood and pointed him in the direction of the medibay wash racks. “You can wash Tailgate up in there. Hurry. With such a small frame, the acid is sure to reach his wires any moment now.”

Cyclonus nodded and rushed over to the wash racks, getting in with Tailgate. He sat Tailgate against a wall before closing the door. Cyclonus activated the shower carefully. He tested the water on his contaminated servo before grabbing the shower head and kneeling beside Tailgate. He made sure to thoroughly rinse Tailgate's frame before grabbing a bottle of cleanser and lathering some up in a loofa with his right servo. Cyclonus used both the loofa and his servo as he started scrubbing the minibot's legs, being very liberal since the acid was more likely to be in that area then any other. Tailgate blushed when Cyclonus got to his thighs and hips. His spark started to race the higher the magenta mech's servos got. Even Cyclonus bore a blush when it came time to scrub between Tailgate's thighs.

“Pardon my reach.” He whispered as he started to scrub Tailgate's nether region, the touch earning a muffle gasp from the minibot.

Soon, Cyclonus moved on to Tailgate's waist. As he scrubbed this area, Tailgate started to giggle. Cyclonus had a feeling the minibot was ticklish but he had not been curious enough to find out where. He moved up to Tailgate's chest. Cyclonus assumed that the acid mostly got on the minibot's front and not on his back. He caught a glance at Tailgate's visor. The smaller mech was looking at him.

“Thank you, Cyclonus. You saved me again. Now I owe you more then before.” He spoke softly. “I don't know if I'll ever be able to make up for every time you have saved and will save me.”

“You don't need to make up for every time. Just being alive is enough.” Cyclonus replied, moving to Tailgate's shoulders and arms.

“But, being alive is the problem. You'll still have to save me all the time.”

“I don't care how often I save you. As long as you live, I will always be there to save you.” Cyclonus admitted as he put the loofa down and started to wash Tailgate's servos.

Tailgate watched him closely, putting a lot of thought into what Cyclonus said. He looked up at the magenta mech's face. He could tell he was being honest. The minibot smiled under his faceplate. Cyclonus soon finished scrubbing the cleanser on Tailgate's servos. He took the shower head and rinsed his servos before starting to rinse Tailgate off, washing away the cleanser and what remained of the acid. Once all the cleanser was washed away. Cyclonus turned off the shower and returned the shower head to it's holster. When he went to pick Tailgate up, the minibot grabbed Cyclonus' right servo and pulled it close, touching the back of his servo to his faceplate as though he had kissed it. He then released Cyclonus' servo and allowed him to pick him up. Cyclonus was confused at the action at first. He understood what it meant. He would make sure to ask Tailgate about it later but first he had to get his roommate repaired. He carried Tailgate out, grabbing a towel as he walked. He laid the towel down on a medical berth before laying Tailgate on it. Cyclonus saw that Velocity was a little busy. He took this moment to dry Tailgate off. He started again with the minibot's legs. He could now see the extent of the damage the acid did. There were oddly shaped indents covering Tailgate's legs. Nothing looked too serious. Just as Cyclonus was finishing up, Velocity walked over to them and looked over the damage.

“These indents will have to be filled. They are compromising the integrity of the metal. Every step will cause cracks and folds in the plating.” She explained. She then looked at Cyclonus. “Servo please.”

Cyclonus looked at her before showing her his damaged servo. She looked closely at his palm and assessed the damage.

“You'll need some filling as well. But not as much as Tailgate.”

“Then start with Tailgate. My repairs can wait.” Cyclonus stated putting his servo down.

“You care about him a lot, don't you?” She asked, folding her servos together.

“Just start the repairs.” Cyclonus stated.

 

***

 

It took some time but soon the repairs were finished. Tailgate had fallen into recharge mid repair so it was up to Cyclonus to carry him back to their hab suite. He walked quietly down the hall, the minibot rested peacefully in his arms. As soon as Cyclonus got to their hab suite door, Tailgate snuggled into the larger mech's chest, audible purring pouring from him. Cyclonus was caught off guard by the purring. He smiled softly at Tailgate before entering their room. He closed the door behind him and laid Tailgate in his berth. Cyclonus looked at the mess on the floor from the hazardous bauble. He carefully walked to the other side of the room and fetched some cleaning supplies. He then started to clean up the mess. The last thing he thought he'd ever find himself doing on the ship was cleaning a mess from a souvenir. Such a domestic task and yet it had to be done. He finished cleaning rather quickly. He put away the cleaning supplies, turned off the lights and stood in front of the window. The ship had already taken off from the planet they were on. He hadn't had an opportunity to watch the stars in a long while. As he watched the stars, he could hear Tailgate moving in his berth.

“Cyclonus?” The minibot sounded groggy. “Mngh....What about our promise?”

Cyclonus looked over his shoulder at Tailgate. “Tailgate, it's late. We are both tired after the day we've had.”

“I know but you promised.” Tailgate said, standing up and walking to Cyclonus. “I can't sleep for long knowing that we didn't keep our promise.”

Cyclonus sighed deeply. “Alright.” He walked to his berth and sat down. “What do you plan on doing?”

Tailgate followed and sat beside him. “I'm not sure yet. I guess it'll depend on what my body feels like doing.” He said softly.

Tailgate reached his right servo up to the base of his faceplate, pressed his thumb to the underside of his chin and the side of his index to the bottom of his faceplate. He then started to slide it down, pulling it from it's slots in the panels on his cheeks. As it moved down, it revealed the lower half of Tailgate's face. The magenta mech watched with interest. No one had seen Tailgate's true face. Cyclonus felt honoured that the minibot had chosen to show him first. Once the faceplate was completely removed, Tailgate held it in both servos. He looked at it as though he had never known that it was removable. He then looked up at Cyclonus. The expression he saw on the magenta mech's face was one he never thought he'd see. Amazement. Cyclonus was genuinely astounded at what he saw. Tailgate looked more innocent without his faceplate then he did with it. Instinctively, he reached a clawed servo up, caressed Tailgate's cheek with his palm and softly slid his thumb over the minibot's lips. This action caused a deep blush to rise onto Tailgate's face. All the small mech could do was sit there and gaze into Cyclonus' optics. He could feel his spark racing faster and faster. He placed a small servo on top of Cyclonus'. His mind was not sure what his body should do. Luckily, Cyclonus' body knew exactly what to do to further the interaction. The magenta mech started to lean in slowly, stopping just as his forehead met Tailgate's. He then tilted the minibot's helm up slightly. He paused there just in case Tailgate wanted to pull away. The minibot was too entranced to do anything. Cyclonus took this as a sign to continue. He moved his helm closer and pressed his lips to Tailgate's, kissing him softly. Tailgate's spark raced ten times faster when their lips made contact. He felt an overwhelmingly pleasurable heat rush through him. He then found himself pressing into the kiss. A loud clattering sound filled the room. Tailgate had dropped his faceplate and it had fallen onto the floor. The minibot did not care and neither did Cyclonus. The pair were too distracted to even hear the noise it made. Tailgate and Cyclonus had both closed their optics when the kiss got deeper. The minibot had wrapped his arms around the larger mech's neck and the magenta mech's had wrapped around Tailgate, pulling him closer. The minibot managed to push the larger mech back, breaking the kiss and having him lay on his back on the berth. Tailgate crawled up on top of Cyclonus and returned their lips together, continuing their heated lip lock. Cyclonus couldn't keep his servos to himself, especially in this new position. He explored the minibot's frame liberally with his digits, managing to dip the tips of his talons into transformation seams to caress sensitive wires. Muffled moans escaped Tailgate as he was explored. Tailgate returned the exploration as best as he could, he had very little space on Cyclonus' chest to work with. Tailgate felt one of Cyclonus' servos move to his aft. The minibot broke the kiss and looked deep into Cyclonus' optics. Now was the perfect moment. It was the ideal moment.

“Cyclonus.” Tailgate hesitated for a second. “Cyclonus, I lo-”

A sharp knocking at their hab suite door interrupted the minibot before he could finish his sentence. Then a voice called in through the door.

“Cyclonus. Tailgate. If either of you are in there, Rodimus wants all crew members in the bridge. Apparently he has some sort of surprise for us.” The voice was too muffled to recognize. The sound of fading foot steps told the pair that the bot at the door had left.

Both Cyclonus and Tailgate groaned with frustration. Rodimus had the worst timing to call a crew meeting. As the magenta mech started to sit up, the minibot climbed off of him and onto the berth. Cyclonus leaned down and picked up Tailgate's faceplate, offering it to him. The smaller mech took it but before putting it on, he gave Cyclonus one more short kiss. He slid the plate back in place and crawled off the berth. The magenta mech got up and walked with Tailgate to the door, letting his roommate exit first. As they walked down the hall, a heavy tension fell upon them. They walked in silence, making the tension awkward. Soon they were joined in their commute by other bots. Cyclonus didn't want to lose Tailgate in the crowd so he took the minibot's servo so he could keep track of where he was as they walked. Tailgate did not object, he didn't want to lose Cyclonus either, gripping his servo tightly so their grip wouldn't get broken. Once they entered the bridge, the pair moved to the forward window and looked up at the upper floor of the bridge along with everyone else. Rodimus stood near the edge, waiting for the crew to fill the room below him. Ultra Magnus looked to be saying something to Rodimus, the Prime clearly ignoring him. Megatron was standing beside Ultra Magnus, listening to him. It was most likely something important but Rodimus clearly wasn't going to listen.

“Alrighty then! Now that everyone seems to be here, I can start giving my good news.” Rodimus started in his usual 'good news' tone of voice. “Due to the great success of that last rescue mission, I have decided to throw a celebratory party! This party will obviously be held at Swerve's.”

The crew blew up with excited cheers. The only bots not celebrating were Tailgate, Cyclonus and Swerve. The small bar owner would have celebrated had it not been for the fact that he had to host the party and due to the fact that he had hoped to renovate the bar the next day. Cyclonus and Tailgate would have been excited if they weren't still upset that their private time together had been cut short. That party was not as welcome to them as Rodimus had hoped it to be. Had Rodimus known, he would have waited till morning to give the good news.

“The party will start in the morning so be sure to head down to Swerve's right when you get up. Dismissed.” Rodimus said, turning and leaving the room.

As everyone started leaving the room, Cyclonus and Tailgate stayed behind. They both wanted to talk before they went back to their room. They stood by the window and looked out at all the stars together. The first time they watched the stars together since Tailgate found out about his cybercrosis. They stood there in silence for a moment before they both tried to start talking.

“Tailgate-”

“Cyclonus-”

They both stopped and looked at each other. Silence surrounded them again as they waited for the other to start speaking. Eventually, Tailgate broke the silence.

“Cyclonus... About what happened in our hab suite...” Before Tailgate could say any more, Cyclonus spoke up.

“It's alright, Tailgate...”

“Please, Cyclonus, let me finish.” The minibot said. “I don't know what compelled me to push you down like that... but I kinda liked it. It felt like nothing I've ever felt before.” He started to fidget with his digits. “I... I would like to.... do it again.” He seemed to have gotten nervous, unsure of how Cyclonus would react.

Cyclonus was surprised and yet he also wasn't surprised. He figured Tailgate wouldn't have experienced something as intimate as what they had done in their hab suite but he was surprised to learn that Tailgate liked feeling more dominant. Cyclonus was partial to dominance but if it was with Tailgate, he wouldn't mind taking the submissive position every now and again. He knelt down and looked Tailgate in the optics.

“If that is what you wish, who am I to argue?” He said, softly. He touched their foreheads together and closed his optics.

Tailgate looked at him for a moment before mirroring Cyclonus, closing his own optics. The lights in the bridge turned off, the remarkable display of star fields silhouetting the pair in pale white and blue light. The minibot slid his faceplate off, tossing it aside with an echoing clatter, before he wrapped his arms around Cyclonus' neck and pressing a deep kiss to the larger mech's lips. The magenta mech answered in kind, wrapping his arms around Tailgate's waist and pressing deeply into the kiss. As the kiss became more heated, the pair had managed to create a pattern. Deep kiss, pull back slightly, return kiss while leading with their glossae. The simple kiss evolved into a passionate make-out session. During all this, the pair kept their optics offline, letting their sparks decide what was right rather then let it dwell in their processors. It didn't take long before muffled moans of pleasure escaped Tailgate and slightly from Cyclonus, mostly Tailgate though. Every parting of their lips was followed by an almost pleasurable wet slick-like sound, the small sound echoing slightly louder in the large empty room. The pair could feel their sparks pulsing hard in their casings. Their internal temperatures skyrocketed. They had even begun to pant softly between kisses. Tailgate, eager to feel more of this indescribable pleasure, pushed Cyclonus back onto the floor, into the dark shadow of the window sill. The minibot climbed over him and allowed his body to do what it wished. The sound of locks coming undone and shifting plating could be heard along side the pair's passionate kissing. The pair both grunted softly, the sound of something being pushed into a tight, wet space blending with their vocalizations; quiet moans, pleasured panting and some light, airy curses. After that, the room filled with sounds of rhythmic mechanical movement and evenly spaced, sliding wet sounds. The pair let out many pleasured moans and swears. Who was in whom was uncertain but the pleasure they felt together was immense. Neither wanted it to end but, like all good things, it had to. It took some time but soon the rhythmic patterns became hastened and their combined vocalizations elevated until they both gasped deeply, moaning out each other's names in bliss and falling silent aside from overworking cooling systems and ragged panting. The occasional sound of a soft kiss or two followed the quieting of their systems. Only after all that, did Cyclonus open his optics. Tailgate unknowingly followed his lead, their optics locking together instantly.

“Cyclonus...” Tailgate's voice was airy and quiet. He was exhausted. He could barely think, much less move. Before Tailgate could speak any further, he soon found himself falling into recharge against Cyclonus' chest.

“You've more then made up for your debt.” Cyclonus whispered once he knew for sure that the minibot was in recharge. Even though Tailgate was in recharge, he still couldn't bring himself to speak his feelings for Tailgate.

 


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4:_

_Rumours_

 

The next morning, Tailgate woke up in his hab suite. He was disoriented at first, he was barely able to remember what had happened the previous night. Then, the memories struck him like a punch from a titan. He sat up sharply and threw a servo up to his face. His faceplate was on. Cyclonus must have put it back on for him. The minibot looked around and noticed that he wasn't in his own berth. He turned his attention to Cyclonus, whom was just then waking up. The larger mech looked at Tailgate with a soft smile before he sat up and placed a servo to his helm. Tailgate's spark was racing and his face was burning with a deep blush, the memories of what they did were fresh in his processor. It was all he could think about, all he could do was stare at Cyclonus. The magenta mech looked at Tailgate with slight confusion before smirking and leaning close, placing a soft kiss to his forehead. Tailgate giggled softly at the kiss. He leaned against Cyclonus, happily. The magenta mech smiled warmly and wrapped an arm around the little mech. Neither one of them had felt so close to another bot until that moment. Then, Tailgate remembered the party that Rodimus was throwing at Swerve's.

“The party! We're late!” the minibot said and hopped off the berth. “Come on, Cyclonus!”

Cyclonus watched his little roommate for a moment before getting up and following Tailgate to the door. “I'm coming. I'm coming.” He said, softly.

The pair walked down the hall toward Swerve's. Neither were willing to admit it out right but the memories of the previous night were still buzzing in both of their heads. It's all either of them could think about. Cyclonus took notice when some bots they passed looked at them with looks of approval, as though they knew about the love-making they took part in. The pair entered Swerve's and the instant they did, everyone in attendance looked at them in silence before cheering loudly. It caught both of them off guard. As they walked to their usual booth, they both received several praises from those they passed. No one said why they were praising them, not directly. Tailgate was thoroughly confused but Cyclonus had a hunch that he knew what this was all about. There were security cameras everywhere on the ship, some of them had night vision capabilities, like the ones on the bridge. Cyclonus had a well supported theory that whomever was on security duty that night saw the whole thing and, the magenta hoped he was wrong, that whoever it was recorded them and saved it on a data-slug. He hoped with all his spark that he was wrong about the second part of his theory but from the praise he was getting, it was clear that he was correct. The pair sat in their booth, sitting side-by-side. Swerve approached them with two drinks, placed them down on the table for them and smiled widely. Just as Cyclonus reached for some shanix to pay for the drinks, Swerve held up his servos in protest.

“On the house.” He said, happily. “Think of it as a celebratory gift. You two have some celebrating to do.”

“What are you talking about, Swerve? Everyone is celebrating. Isn't that the point of this party?” Tailgate asked, confused as to why he and his roommate were being singled out.

“The party is for the success of the battle, but you two...” Swerve started. “...you two should be celebrating because of last night. I mean, full on interfacing on the bridge! That is a huge leap, especially for your guys' relationship.”

Tailgate froze, the colour seemingly draining from his face. “Wh-what?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “How do you know about that?”

“I was on security duty last night. I was the first to find out.”

“Should have figured that the bot on security duty was the one with the mouth that's larger then he is tall.” Cyclonus retorted.

Swerve crossed his arms and huffed. “Now that's not nice. Thought the afterglow lasted longer then that. Another myth busted, i suppose.” He stated. “Too bad the security cams don't have audio capabilities. Would have loved to hear what you two said to each other after the 'fun'.”

Tailgate realized something. “Wait. What all did you see? Before all the-” He changed the volume of his voice, again, to a whisper. “-the 'fun'.”

“I saw you throw something on the floor. I don't know how to zoom the camera so I couldn't see what it was.”

Tailgate relaxed significantly. He only wanted Cyclonus to know about his secret faceplate. He opened the hatch in his faceplate and slipped the straw into it, sipping his drink. Swerve returned to the bar counter and served the bots waiting for their drinks. The next bot to approach the pair was Brainstorm, he sat across from them, on the edge of the seat so they knew that he didn't intend to sit with them for long.

“Congratz on last night. Though, there are rumours being spread around. Bad rumours. Mostly from bots who haven't seen the vid. Some bots....” He lowered his volume and lean in close. “Some bots think it was rape. I've seen the vid. I totally believe that it was consensual. Mostly because it was you, Tailgate, who instigated it.” He paused to let what he said sink in. “Though, the few bots who like you, Cyclonus, think that you were the one who was raped. Most think it was the other way around though. Big bot overpowering a minibot... It's more common then some bots want to believe.”

The pair listened with contrasting interest. Tailgate listened intently while Cyclonus was barely interested in what Brainstorm was saying. He knew he should care about the rumours but he'd been called worse things then 'rapist'. Tailgate was worried that the rumours wouldn't just hurt his own reputation but Cyclonus' as well. The crew were just now warming up to him and those rumours would put him back at square one in a nanosecond. Brainstorm looked over his shoulder when Nautica called for him. He bid them fair well before getting up and joining Nautica at her table. The pair were less comfortable now that they were told of the rumours. Tailgate, being worried about Cyclonus, placed his right servo on the other's left, supportively. Cyclonus smiled down at Tailgate before turning over his palm and holding the minibot's servo, their digits interlacing with each other. All throughout the party, the pair were interrupted by the other crew members, congratulating them and telling them of rumours they'd heard, both good and bad. The last to talk to them was Whirl, whom ran up to them cheering loudly.

“Congratz! So when's ceremony? Heard you two were talking about tying the knot. Is it true and can I watch? I've not seen a conjunx ceremony in eons.”

“Whirl, that's just a rumour. We've only just gotten to this point where we feel more intimately toward each other.” Tailgate piped up. “The rumours are already starting to get out of hand. Sooner or later they are going to start stirring up trouble, fights might break out and some bots might get injured. Who knows what might happen if it gets to that point.”

“You've been on Tumblr again, haven't you?” Cyclonus cut in.

Tailgate hesitated before responding, “No... Maybe... Kinda... Yes...” He admitted tentatively. “I'm popular on there!”

“You're popular here too.” Whirl interjected.

Swerve then called from behind the bar. “Stop breaking the fourth wall and get on with it!”

Tailgate cleared his throat before resuming. “Whirl, you shouldn't listen to those rumours. Most rumours are speculation or lies.”

“There were once rumours that Megatron made himself some daughters with some sort of experimental spark splitting method that they only used once.” Cyclonus spoke up. “There is no proof of their existence. No one has seen them in files, videos, not even in person. That rumour was defunct long ago. No one even knew their names or what they turned into.”

“True. 'Suppose even positive rumours are false, no matter how good they sound.” Whirl said rather softly. “Still, it was nice to believe that you two were finally gonna fess up to each other. Have you to even said the three magic words yet?”

The pair said nothing in response to the question, opting to fidget with their drinks.

“You haven't even said...? Really? Me and a buncha people assumed that in the afterglow.... Not even a whisper?” Whirl got his answer in the form of more awkward silence. “Wow. I owe Riptide a hundred shanix now.”

“We don't feel ready for that kind of commitment yet. Those words have a massive impact, on us, on other people...” Cyclonus stated.

Tailgate felt that he was ready for the commitment but he was either interrupted or too nervous every time he went to say them. “Besides, we have a quest to focus on. The Knights of Cybertron may be eternal but they aren't gonna wait for us.”

“You don't honest believe that this quest is legit. We've been searching for how many years? And still no progress has been made.” Whirl stated, shifting the subject and getting more comfortable in the seat across from the pair. “If anything, we're going the completely wrong direction. To me, it feels like we're walking backward, not forward.”

The trio then started to talk about the quest and their views on where they were really going. Many of the hand gestures they were making could have been misunderstood by other bots. This spawned new rumours, rumours that were harmful to all three of them. The party lasted hours. Eventually, everyone started to exit, saying their last praise to Cyclonus and Tailgate. Just like the previous night, the pair stayed behind to talk. When the only other bots in the room were Swerve and Ten, the minibot looked up at the magenta mech.

“Cyclonus. Will we ever get to the point where we say those words to each other?” Tailgate was concerned that the previous night was just an instinctive thing. That it didn't really mean anything to Cyclonus. It meant the universe to Tailgate.

“I... I'm sure we will. Just... not yet. I don't feel like I'm ready to commit.” Cyclonus admitted in whispers.

“Oh...” Tailgate fidgeted with Cyclonus' digits. The fidgeting unknowingly translated from chirolingual as a badly mispronounced 'I love you'. Tailgate wasn't aware of this but Cyclonus understood, barely.

“We should leave. It looks like Ten is cleaning the tables and we are gonna be in the way.” Cyclonus said softly.

The pair scooted out of the booth and left the bar. They wandered the halls, making idle conversation, and ended up entering the bridge. There was a small group of bots gathered in a circle. They were looking at something on the floor, whispering amongst themselves. As the pair got closer, the whispers became audible.

“Look at them. They clearly came from Cyclonus. Tailgate doesn't have talons.”

“You don't need talons to make those. Just enough pressure.”

“Besides, if it was Cyclonus, why aren't they deeper then that?”

“Maybe he was holding back.”

“If he was raping Tailgate, why would he hold back?”

“So he wouldn't end up leaving any evidence.”

“Well clearly he did leave evidence.”

“I heard from Brainstorm that it wasn't rape. He spoke to them and found out the truth.”

“You're gonna believe someone who tried to poison us?”

“You should.” Cyclonus cut in, silencing the group. “It wasn't rape. If any of you even watched the footage, you'd clearly see that Tailgate instigated it.”

The group looked at Cyclonus then around at each other. They felt ashamed of themselves for jumping to conclusions without asking the source first. They all apologized and started to leave. What they were gathered around was some scratches in the floor. Cyclonus hadn't realized that he had scratched the floor during their bliss. It didn't even register at the time. Tailgate knew that he felt sense-dampening pleasure, he should have figured Cyclonus would have as well, yet he was still surprised to see the scratches.

“Should we get rid of them?” Tailgate asked, curiously. “If we don't, people will see them and talk.”

“Why remove something that was made during the process of giving something genuine to someone you care the most about?” Cyclonus said, almost poetically. “Come. I've got some things to deal with in our hab suite.”

“I've been meaning to ask. What happened to that thing you were writing on the computer?”

“I scraped it. That blossom we had was my muse. After finding out what it was and after getting rid of it, I lost my inspiration. I couldn't finish it.”

“Oh. That's too bad. I was hoping to hear you read what you were writing.” Tailgate said, took Cyclonus' servo and followed him out of the bridge.

 

***

 

Later in the day, Rodimus made an announcement stating that another planet was asking for assistance with a squad of Decepticons. The ship was already on course toward the planet. Whether it was the DJD or some other squad of Decepticons was uncertain but either way, they were going to help defend the planet. The estimated time of arrival was set for late the next day, provided there were no obstacles in the way like a fleet in orbit anticipating an attack from space. The planet was pretty far off so the crew would have to remain in recharge for most of the duration of the journey so they were more then prepared for the battle.

Meanwhile, in hab suite 014, Cyclonus and Tailgate were not listening to Rodimus' announcement, too consumed in their own personal business. Cyclonus laid on his back on his berth, Tailgate was on all fours over him, his faceplate laid on the floor where the minibot had dropped it. Cyclonus' servos rested on his partner's hip and back as they kissed each other passionately, their optics closed. They were already breathing heavily. Unlike the bridge, their hab suite was brighter and details were easier to see. There was an open panel in Tailgate's nether region, in the small opening was an orifice, and a rather wet one at that. The orifice was dripping with lubricant. The servo on Tailgate's hip had managed to reach a digit far enough to allow it to slide inside the opening, to move in and out of it at an even pace. The action clearly pleasurable for Tailgate for he couldn't keep his moans at bay as Cyclonus played with him. As for the magenta mech, down at his nether, a large eager shaft flexed against his abdomen. It couldn't wait to penetrate the small mech's opening. It had gotten a small taste the previous night on the bridge, now it craved a full meal of the minibot's wet tightness. Tailgate began to whimper and plead for Cyclonus to fill him. Cyclonus eventually obliged, pulling his digit out, lining himself up and slowly pressing into the minibot with his excited shaft. The fit was restricting and almost impossible, but they managed. Tailgate was more then lubricated enough to allow Cyclonus' thickness to slip inside. The pair groaned and grunted at the tightness, stopping for a moment to allow the minibot to adjust. Cyclonus was worried that he may end up hurting Tailgate this time 'round. The first time was pure instinct, this time they were both conscious of their actions.

“Ughn! I don't remember fitting such a large spike inside me when we did this in the bridge.” Tailgate commented, clenching his digits against Cyclonus' chest.

“That was instinct, Tailgate. This time, you wanted to... Mngh! You wanted to remember it.” Cyclonus whispered, his deep Tetrahexian accent making his voice rumble in his chest, much to Tailgate's pleasure.

Reflexively, Cyclonus thrust up into the minibot, his instincts wanting to hurry this along so it could experience the temporary bliss at the end. Tailgate gasped at the sudden thrust, heat surging through his frame, sourcing from his nether region, said region clenching against the welcome intrusion. That, in turn, made Cyclonus grunt. The tightness was already constricting, when the minibot clenched, the result almost made Cyclonus fall over the edge before he reached it. He cursed quietly before allowing himself to begin moving inside the minibot, adopting an even pace. Originally he focused on the motion and the pleasure he was getting. When he looked up at Tailgate, all he saw, in terms of expression, was absolute bliss. His optics were closed, his mouth hung open, his cheeks were dark with a hot blush. His vocalizations were pure and intoxicating. Hearing moans of pleasure from Tailgate's voice was the most arousing sound Cyclonus ever heard. The magenta mech focused solely on Tailgate and the pleasure he was getting, paying little attention to his own pleasure. He simply gave his body to his instincts, his mind too focused on watching the minibot's pleasure. He didn't take notice when he held Tailgate close and rolled over so the smaller mech as below him, his short legs around the larger magenta hips, his wrists pinned above his helm. Tailgate did not object to the new position. His mind was clouded from the pleasure. As he panted hard, steam escaped his mouth in small puffs. His internal temperature was sky high. Cyclonus admired the scene below him before he continued to pleasure Tailgate, using this new position to go deeper. Tailgate arched his back when the movements continued, letting out a rather loud moan.

“Oh, Primus! Yes! Cyclonus! Ah! Mngh! Harder! I want to feel it all the way to the end of the month!” Tailgate moaned loudly, blissfully.

Cyclonus smirked down at Tailgate and leaned in close. “As you wish. I am yours to command.” He whispered smoothly into Tailgate's audio receptor.

Tailgate shivered hard at the whisper. The larger mech did as he was told to and made his movements harder and, as a bonus, faster. The minibot below him revelled in the new surges of pleasure. He let loose a sonnet of blissful moans and screams of ecstasy. Aside from moans and screams, all that left Tailgate's lips were swears and Cyclonus' name. As they swam together in an ocean of pleasure, the magenta mech's movements got more erratic. The minibot reacted to this shift in movement in kind, his moans and screams reaching new levels of high volume. They could both feel themselves reaching the edge. Everything around them seemed to fade, their whole focus going toward feeling their climax. One last thrust and the pair rocketed over the edge, Cyclonus pumping Tailgate full of his climax. As they calmed down, the room became filled with their combined panting. Cyclonus leaned close to Tailgate and kissed him gently, letting the little mech's servos free. Tailgate happily returned the kiss, feeling the full, overwhelming effects of the afterglow. He looked Cyclonus in the optics and smiled softly. After such extreme amounts of pleasure, the only face he wanted to see afterward was Cyclonus'.

“Cyclonus...” He paused, hoping he wasn't interrupted again. “Cyclonus, I love you.”

Cyclonus smiled softly, placing a soft kiss on the minibot's lips. “I love you too, Tailgate.”

 

***

 

Late the next day, the ship had slowed and was cautiously approaching the planet that sent the call for help. So far that the scans could tell, there were no enemy ships orbiting the planet. Meanwhile, in hab suite 014, Tailgate woke to find that he was laying in Cyclonus' berth again. This time, he was laying on his side, a large magenta arm wrapped around his midsection. He smiled softly and turned carefully to look back at Cyclonus. The larger mech was still recharging. Tailgate took this opportunity to give him a gentle kiss, the kiss, in turn, woke Cyclonus up. He returned the kiss and smiled at Tailgate. Then, the intercom system came on and Rodimus started to make his announcement.

“Good evening everyone! We are currently in orbit over our next battlefield. Blaster, what was the name of this planet again.....? How do you even pronounce that? Anyway, I have a list of bots I want to take with me to fight these rogue Decepticons....” Rodimus then proceeded to rattle off a series of names, including Cyclonus'.

Hearing that Cyclonus was going to battle made both him and Tailgate groan with irritation. Once the announcement was finished, the pair started to get up. Tailgate picked up his faceplate from the floor and put it on. Cyclonus got up off his berth and grabbed his great sword. As he examined the blade, determining if it needed to be sharpened or not, Tailgate got up and placed a servo on his partner's hip.

“Come back unharmed. I've dragged you off too many battlefields as is.” Tailgate said, softly.

Cyclonus looked down at Tailgate before kneeling down to look him in the optics. “I can't promise I'll be unharmed but I vow to return alive.”

Tailgate looked into his partner's optics and smiled under his faceplate, hugging Cyclonus tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The magenta mech returned the hug, placed a soft kiss to Tailgate's forehead and walked out the door with him.

As they walked down to the shuttle bay, they were joined by the other bots on Rodimus' list. One mech they weren't expecting to see was Megatron. He seemed on edge, as though he felt something was off. Tailgate would have asked but he chose not to rile the once tyrannical Decepticon leader. The crowd entered the shuttle bay and those who were chosen to fight started to file into the RodPod. Tailgate and Cyclonus looked at each other, saying their goodbyes through silent means. As Cyclonus entered the RodPod, Tailgate saw Megatron and Rodimus talking to each other not far away. He couldn't hear what they were talking about but it must have been important from how Megatron's posture was. Soon, Rodimus started walking toward the shuttle with Megatron close behind. As they got closer, Tailgate could hear more of what they were saying.

“Rodimus, you have to guarantee that you'll call me if it is who I think it is that's attacking this planet.” Megatron insisted.

“Fine! I'll give you a call, but if it isn't them, I'm killing them. No ifs or buts about it.” Rodimus returned. “Why are those three so important to you?”

“It doesn't matter **why** they are important to me, they just are.” Megatron snarled softly.

Rodimus walked up the ramp and into the RodPod, leaving Megatron standing beside Tailgate. The two bots watched as the shuttle sealed itself and started to take off, leaving the shuttle bay and headed straight for the nearby planet. Megatron looked down at Tailgate for a moment. Tailgate met his gaze curiously.

“What?” Tailgate asked.

“Nothing.” Megatron returned, calmly. “You and Cyclonus are close, aren't you?”

“Very close. We weren't always this close but now...” Tailgate paused. “I don't like seeing him leave.”

“I know that feeling.” Megatron mumbled under his breath.

 

 

Meanwhile, on the RodPod, Cyclonus sat in silence. The others on the shuttle were excited to kill some Decepticons. Whirl was celebrating the excitement until he spotted Cyclonus, the look on his face caught Whirl's attention. It was a look of concern. Whirl managed to pull himself away from the cheering warriors to sit beside Cyclonus. The magenta mech looked at him with curiosity.

“You worried about 'panic button'?” Whirl asked. “Worried about him being left behind with Megatron?”

Cyclonus looked away before responding. “Yeah. I suppose you could say that.”

“You two finally said the three magic words. 'Bout time. I was starting to worry you two would never say it.” Whirl said and chuckled softly.

Cyclonus looked at Whirl again. “Why were you worried? Thought you hated me.”

“Trust me, I still do. But that doesn't mean I don't think you shouldn't be happy. I'm at my happiest when I'm killing 'cons. I see you with Tailgate.... It's clear to me that you are at your happiest when you are with him.”

Cyclonus was surprised at what he was hearing. He never thought he'd ever hear Whirl speaking in such a sentimental manner. He looked at the floor for a moment before speaking again. “Thank you, Whirl.”

“When we win this battle, I think you and Tailgate should head up to the observation deck and watch the stars together. Spend the night together. Just you, Tailgate and the stars. I'll have Rodders make the observation deck off limits so you two can be alone.”

“Sometimes, Whirl, you surprise me. You surprise me every time you show some sort of kindness to....well, anyone.” Cyclonus commented. “Thank you for the advice.”

It didn't take long before the RodPod touched down on the planet. They had landed a safe distance from where the Decepticons were last seen. It was clear that they had passed through the area before the shuttle had landed. There were familiar blast marks that were indicative of shots from a fusion cannon. Luckily, it seemed like whomever owned the weapon only had one. The squad of Decepticons was not the DJD. Rodimus was the first to step out onto the rather charred and decimated surface of the planet. He looked around and clearly saw which way they needed to go to find the Decepticons, the path of fire and destruction clearly leading the way.

“Come on, team. Lets go get some Decepticons.” Rodimus led the others down the trail of destruction.

It was a long trek but eventually they managed to catch up to the Decepticons, the team instantly taking action to avoid detection. Right away, Rodimus saw that there were mostly jets in the squad. He couldn't pick out who was leading them. The few 'cons who weren't jets were very obviously massive military tanks, fully loaded with ground to air missiles and more. Their arsenal, though extremely lethal, was also designed in a more old fashioned way. The way some of the reserve missiles, that appeared to be unused for a long while, were reminiscent of some of the earliest weapons that were built during the war on Cybertron. This squad had been around for the entirety of the war. And since their reserve ammunition was unused, it was clear that they had somehow become stranded from Cybertron. As the Autobots took cover and took aim, Rodimus stood in plain sight on a small mound. He knew of only one way to get their leader to show their face.

“Hey! Decepticons! Who is your squad leader?!”

The Decepticons froze for a moment before turning sharply and taking aim at the young Prime. The crowd parted enough to allow four femmes, of similar make, to walk to the front of the squad. Three of the four femmes had three common colours, honey flower purple, royal blue, and old brick red. Their design was unusual, Rodimus had never seen such a design. The most obvious factor was the long black _hair_ they had. From a distance it looked like hair, though since they were robotic, presumably Cybertronian, it would be logical to assume the _hair_ was actually black cabling. The one who showed a more dominant posture was the purple femme. She looked Rodimus right in the optics, her expression serious and cold.

“I am. Why did you desire to meet with me?” She spoke with a rather calm tone.

“I wanted to meet with you so I can tell my squad whether they were allowed to fire on you or not. There is someone on my ship that sees great value in keeping you alive.”

“Who might that be?”

“An old friend of yours, emphasis on **old**. Some old codger named Megatron.”

Upon hearing the name spill from the Prime's lips, the purple femme, and the others who look like her, almost physically faltered. Their wings, having once been held high with pride, now drooped below their shoulder height. The sight threw the other Decepticons off, making it clear that they had never seen their leaders like that, in shock. One of the smaller tanks approached the purple femme and placed a servo on her shoulder.

“Ma'am?” The tank prompted. “General Swiftica, are you alright?”

The purple femme looked at the soldier before clearing her throat. “I'm alright. Thank you.” She said and looked back at Rodimus, her wings perking up slightly. “Why in Primus' name would my...Lord and Master be on your pathetic Autobot ship. He's got a war to win.”

Rodimus laughed an almost awkward laugh. “Have...have you not heard the news? Don't you have a datapad or something?”

“We lost contact with Cybertron shortly after the war moved to other planets.”

“Ah. I see. Uh...Miss....Swiftica was it? You and your squad here...you've been out of the loop for so long... The war is over. Megatron put out the order for all Decepticons to remove their badges and to renounce 'the cause'.”

“Why should I believe you, Autobot scum? For all I know this could be a trick, an ambush, a way to catch me and my squad off guard.”

“Honestly, you give me too much credit. I can give him a call right now.” Rodimus said and carefully took out his interstellar communications device.

The purple seeker looked at the device for moment. Her gaze shifted back to Rodimus' face, a clever smirk on her violet lips. “Go ahead. Call him. Tell him to be here in say...hm... How long would be a reasonable amount of time, StormScorch?”

“Estimated time of arrival from space to here is set to twenty or thirty minutes, provided the shuttle is slow.” The blue femme spoke, her tone was calculating yet also nervous sounding.

“Then tell him to be here in ten minutes or we start shooting.”

“Oh! Goodie! I love a good shoot out!” The red femme said, excitement clear in her voice.

“I like her.” Whirl whispered. “Girl knows how to have fun.”

Rodimus nodded to the purple femme before quickly dialling up the Lost Light. He didn't have much time. It took a great deal of convincing but he had managed to talk Megatron into coming down. He had told him to hurry. The Decepticon soldiers took cover and prepared for the likely fire fight. The time seemed to pass quickly because ten minutes passed and still no sign of Megatron. The purple femme smirked at the Prime.

“Time's up.” She said.

She rose her right arm and aimed her fist at Rodimus. Then the cabling that flowed from her helm started to rise, migrating to her right arm. They coiled around each other and formed a shape that resembled a fusion cannon on her forearm. Then the inside of the barrel started to build in brightness. The weapon was charging up. Rodimus was surprised to watch this as it happened, having never encountered such an ability. Time seemed to slow the instant the shot left the cable fusion cannon. The shot nearly made contact with Rodimus' chest. Luckily, he dodged it in time to look back at it. When the shot hit an obstacle, the explosion was bigger then normal, it took all of the Autobots off guard. The Prime slid into cover with the others as the Decepticons started to fired on him.

“What the frag was that?!” Whirl shouted.

“It was a shot from a fusion cannon made of cables.” Rodimus replied. “I've never seen anything like that.”

Cyclonus, whom was right beside Rodimus, looked at him. “What's the ETA on Megatron?”

Rodimus looked at him before calling Megatron on his mobile device. “Where are you? You are late!”

“The shuttle is running slow. It's taking longer then the allotted time given.”

“Yeah, well, that was the time she settled on. I wasn't about to argue. It would have wasted time.”

As the two bickered over the phone, the Autobots returned fire, making sure to avoid fatal shots. At that point, the four femmes had moved out of sight to avoid injury. Many of the larger Decepticons had transformed to utilize their vehicle weapons, bombarding the Autobots with heavy cannon fire. The other jets took to the air and added to the carnage with some carpet bombing. The Decepticons who were smaller, those who transformed into cars or other non military vehicles, stayed behind cover and used blasters. Then something made the fight stop, a shuttle that landed nearby. Out of the shuttle walked Megatron. Rodimus stood and walked toward him, the pair eventually moving toward the centre of the battlefield together.

“Took you long enough.”

“I told you, Rodimus, the shuttle was slow.” Megatron stated and looked at the squad of Decepticons. He recognized most of them.

Soon, the quadruplet femmes walked forward and out of the squad. Three of them hesitated when they saw Megatron, the fourth, the green one, did not understand why. The four of them approached and looked up at the ex-Decepticon leader. They took note of his new badge before looking him in the optics. The purple femme took a small, unsure step forward, raising her servos up to her chest. Her expression was one of unsure curiosity. Her wings dropped, the ends almost touching the ground. She suddenly hugged the silver mech in front of her, her optics closed and tears built up in the seams of her optic lids. The silver mech was caught off guard at first before he returned her hug.

“It's been so long... I thought...I thought something bad happened to you...”

“It's alright. I'm here now.” Megatron whispered softly to her.

“I missed you so much...dad.” She said and allowed a tear to run down her cheek.

Rodimus and the other Autobots froze in surprise, some in shock. There were once rumours of Megatron having daughters but none of them had believed it, some had not even heard about such rumours having ever existed. The blue and red femmes joined in the hug, being just as happy as their leading sister to see their 'father'. Rodimus looked around at both the Autobots and the Decepticons. It might have been a warm and joyful moment for the four of them but for everyone else it was getting rather awkward to just be standing around watching them hug. He tapped Megatron on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Hey, Megatron. I know you and your...uh...daughters are having a moment but...um... what do we do now?”

Swiftica, the purple femme, looked at Rodimus. “I know it's a bit much to ask, having just been fighting, but could you perhaps give us, me and my squad, a lift. Our ship crashed and now we are stranded.”

“No.” Rodimus said before being interrupted by Megatron.

“Of course we can. We have no available hab suites but you and your squad can stay on the observation deck.”

Rodimus pulled Megatron aside for a private conversation. “What are you doing? I know they are your daughters but they are also armed to the teeth with 'millions-of-years' old explosives. At least have her squad stay in the brig.”

“No. They are not going to stay in the brig. I assembled this squad with specific soldiers. They may be heavily armed but they have a unique disposition about them. Personalities that are unlike regular Decepticons. They are kinder then the Decepticons we have in the brig.”

“Kinder? I didn't think you would have recruited pansies.”

“Not pansies. They aren't afraid to shoot someone in the head while looking them in the eye but they also don't go on random killing sprees. I gave them a secondary task, to watch over my daughters, to comfort them, to take care of them.”

“I also didn't peg you to be the kind of mech who was a good father.”

“Part of me is in them. I want what is best for them. Which is why I never documented their existence.”

“Fine, they can stay on the observation deck, but if something involving one of her squad members happens, I'm blaming you for it.”

Megatron and Rodimus turned back to the triplets. Swiftica stepped forward and smiled up at the silver mech. She told them that they had no specific location they needed to go so they would be staying on board for a long time. Since Megatron's shuttle was larger, the Decepticon squad would have to ride in that one. Swiftica said that they need to get a few things from the wreckage of their ship before they could leave. She ordered the larger jets to head back to the crash site to retrieve whatever they could carry, the jets nodding and taking to the air. Rodimus and the other Autobots left, returning to the Rod Pod, as per Megatron's request.

 

Once the Autobots returned to the Lost Light, Cyclonus exited the Rod Pod to find that Tailgate was still in the shuttle bay, waiting for him to return. When Tailgate spotted Cyclonus, he ran to him and jumped up to hug his chest. Cyclonus had to quickly wrap his arms around the minibot so that he did not fall onto the floor the instant Tailgate made contact with his chest, that then became a return hug. The magenta jet arranged his arms in a way that would better support Tailgate, after which he buried his face into the minibot's neck, said minibot mirroring this action. They stood there for a while, just enjoying each others arms around them. To them, the room was dead silent. In reality, though, the shuttle bay was bustling with activity as the other ground team bots told their companions who stayed behind about what happened. Tailgate was the first to speak between the pair.

“I was so worried about you.” He whispered.

“I gave you my vow to return alive, didn't I?” Cyclonus whispered in response.

Tailgate gave a little giggle. “Yes, yes you did.” He leaned back enough to look into Cyclonus' optics.

The pair touched their foreheads together and closed their optics. They felt as though they were bathing in each other's love, the moment being so tender and warm between them. Having their chested pressed so firmly together, they could feel the other's spark pulsing against their own. Tailgate then found himself reaching up to his faceplate and sliding it off. Cyclonus took notice and looked around the room, no one seemed to be paying them any mind. In fact, they seemed to be leaving the shuttle bay. Once Tailgate's faceplate was fully removed, he stretched up to meet Cyclonus' lips. The magenta mech responded in kind by leaning down slightly and gave a return kiss. Tailgate smiled against the larger mech's lips.

“When we get back to our hab suite, you are gonna get one heck-of-a celebration.” He whispered.

“Is that so? In that case, I can't wait for it.” Cyclonus smirked at Tailgate, kissing him once more.

Just as Tailgate was sliding his face plate back in place, Megatron's shuttle returned, landing beside the Rod Pod. The pair looked over at it as Megatron led the squad of Decepticons out and into the shuttle bay. The silver mech led them out of the shuttle bay, seemingly making sure to keep the four femmes close to him. Tailgate was slightly confused but only slightly. He looked up at Cyclonus for an explanation.

“Y'know that rumour I mentioned about Megatron having daughters?” Cyclonus asked, receiving a nod in return. “Well they were true. They were off world for most of the war.”

“Oh! So those four? You said their were only three.”

“There were three originals. They must have made the fourth.”

“Ah. I understand now... Not really, but it makes more sense then it did before.”

 


End file.
